I'm submitting a resume for a Quality Assurance (Game tester) position at a local game developer. Any criticism you can give me would be much appreciated.

I tailored the resume to stress that I can work hard and dedicate time (the Vector Marketing work experience) and that I have writing skills (the philosophy courses and the affiliation with the schools news paper).

I added a few amusing video game references (High int. modifier). If you've got an opinion on whether or not they work, or don't work, or don't work but could if I tweaked it a little bit, please let me know.

Does anyone think this is the kind of resume that might get a QA job? Do accepted applicants typically have more experience with computer hardware or programming?

If anyone is familiar with the controversy surrounding Vector Marketing, let's keep it out of the thread, please.

Cover Letter: Instant bin. There was no substance that demonstrated that you possessed the skills for QA. Ability to work very hard? Not a skill. Excellent communication skills? Give a tangible example. The last line is what killed it for me:

"I will be an excellent Quality Assurance intern. Please review my resume and contact me if you have any questions. I will call you on Friday, the 22nd to ask about scheduling an interview."

THEY will contact YOU if they are interested in a giving an interview. This makes it look like you think you are automatically good enough for an interview and that they should wait for you to contact them to give you an interview. Very presumptuous.

CV/Resume: Inconsistent styling. For example you you use : and - interchangeably and you missed - for a bullet point. Not great when the job calls for attention to detail. Random use of italics.

"Currently learning Python and ActionScript scripting languages" is not a skill as you haven't learned it yet. This should be in the cover letter if anywhere.

"Recognized for unique leadership abilities " such as?

"Established goals and followed through" example?

"Halo LAN Parties" how many attended? Why were they successful?

"D&D: Dungeon Master for two campaigns" What were they? What personalities?

"Directed 2 short plays" Which were? How were they successful?

"Proficient with Word, Excel and PowerPoint" How proficient? Can you use macros in Word and correctly use the Styling and Formatting features?

Thanks for the criticisms. Very helpful. It turns out my email was misdirected, so I've got another chance to edit this. Hurrah.

Regarding my cover lette, you're right, I didn't give any solid evidence of my skills. I thought cover letters were there primarily to entice the reader to read your resume, rather than skip it. I tried to make myself sound interesting and exciting. My resume is where I put the instances of good communication skills (though I may not have made them clear enough).

Regarding my presumptuousness, everything I read online suggested I do that. However, I might change it now that I've given it more thought.

Regarding my lack of details, I figured the first two you question would not need to be fleshed out before I was in an interview. I considered the fact that I excelled the way I did and was offered a management position to be interesting enough to warrant an interview without giving them too much to read (amount I gave them to read was a major concern). My logic was, if I've succeeded at a job that involves certain duties, like setting goals, do I really need to go into those goals, or can people imply that they were done well? I can see how being explicit would give them less to figure out though and help my chances, so I'll do that.

Some very cliche stuff in there, and even this would not grab my immediate attention, but it has a clean appearance, is relevant and has everything I feel required of a CV + letter. I know I personally expand upon skills, since my employment history is not large, and education (since it's still recent). I also have a projects section, but that's not relevant to everyone. I would also regard style as an important factor, spend a bit of time making it not just sound good, but look presentable.

As for a cover letter...well I find practice makes perfect. I've probably rewritten my cover letter about 4 times last year, each one better than the last.

One of the things I've been told to do when writing cover letters is to relate the job skills they're looking for to yourself in your cover letter. If the job description states they're looking for someone with experience with 3D modeling packages, then you should state your experience with something like "I've become skilled using 3ds Max through completing projects both inside and outside of the classroom". This is just a rough example off the top of my head, but that's the kind of advice I've been given. The more specific you can be to the type of candidate they're looking for the better.